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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween and welcome to another Cosplayer Interview. We have the pleasure this week to introduce you to Giorgiacosplay.

We are going over to Olde Europe for this wonderful cosplayer. I have to thank the cosplay groups on DeviantART or else we may have never of met.

If I remember correctly, it was her Litchi that first caught my attention. She did a stunning cosplay of her which got me to look at her other characters. I was wonderfully blown away by her eye to detail on all her cosplays.

She has a very flirty and playful way that she does her cosplay poses which just adds to the magic of the cosplay. But don't let that fool you as her serious side is just as stunning and beautiful. I guess it is time you actually see this for yourself, so lets get to the interview!What is your name, where do you reside and what is your age?

My name is Giorgia, known on the net as Giorgiacosplay.

I live in Vigasio, a small town near Verona, the city you might know for being home to Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, so it's the city of love ;)

And I am 22, trust me, I know it, I've been 22 for quite some time ;)

What first started you on the road to cosplay?

I've started cosplaying in 1997 and it was actually the first day of spring.I wore my Sailor Mars outfit during the spring edition of Lucca Comics & Games, the main Italian comics convention which was, at that time, held twice a year (now it's just once).

I had been playing with the idea of dressing like an anime character since a couple of years back, when I had seen a few guys wearing outfits from Star Trek or from fantasy role play games.So I told myself: "if they can do this with their favourite characters, why can't I do the same with mine?" At the time I didn't know I was cosplaying: I refered to that by simply saying "getting dressed" or "wearing a costume".

It was only after I had internet access that I learned about cosplay and how it was world wide spread.

I saw that you have done several characters from different genres (anime, manga, comics, movies, games and others). Out of all of these, which do you think you draw most of your inspiration from when you are deciding on a character?

I try to choose characters that fit me physically, but as genres go I have a clear preference for anime and manga from the 80s.

They are the characters with whom I grew up, so it's just natural that I love them the most and want to depict them even if this means giving up on "larger" and more spectacular costumes of modern characters which are so popular today among cosplayers who only seek the wow factor.

Your cosplay of Evylnn (from Pixie) really was stunning and is quite elaborate. I was wondering where you got the materials for this and how long it took to put this all together?
I'm very glad you asked about Evylnn because I really love Pixie's work and I made that costume as a tribute to her work.It took about two months and while I outsourced the sword to a friend of mine, the armour parts are made of latex I got from internet.

As for most of my costumes, the fabric comes from shops near my place.

I see that you have been cosplaying since 1997. What changes have you seen in the art of cosplay over the years to how it was then to how it is currently?

Well, if you mean the Italian cosplay scene, I must say that one of the trends is that of people going to Facebook only and abandoning forums.

We used to have two main forums which counted for almost all the Italian cosplayers (one of these was on my very own website), but with the rise of Facebook, people slowly moved there, abandoning forums (as for my forum, I decided to shut it down instead of seeing it slowly dye away).Forums have a great gathering potential which Facebook doesn't, so at the moment the scene looks "fractured" in many personal Facebook pages making interaction and cooperation somewhat more difficult.

But all in all, if you look at further back in time, the main difference is that when I began there was no internet for all. The community might be spread here and there, but internet is still a powerful tool that allows anyone to look at others' work and learn from anyone in the world. World wise I'm glad to see world class cosplayers rising every year, bringing life to more and more complicated and spectacular costumes.

There are a lot of people using professional tools and materials we could only dream of in the past (I'm thinking of things like liquid latex, wonderflex, laser cutting and 3D printing) and more and more often you can see pictures that have been Photoshopped to add a flaming effect or anything like that that can't be reproduced in real life.

The overall level is rising and it won't be long before some cosplayer will have a team of professionals taking care of every detail; for some this is happening now.

There are more online shops where people can buy everything from a simple accessory to a full costume, allowing people who lack the skill or the time to make a costume to enter the "scene" and allowing those who seek perfection to add that detail for which you need a professional.

And of course this means that cosplay is a business for someone, something that was inimaginable just a few years back.

I am sure that some cosplayers may want to take up modeling some day. Can you let us know how you may prepare differently for modeling that cosplay (if there is one)?

That's an interesting question and I think the answer lies mostly in the different nature of cosplay when compared to modeling.

When cosplaying you have to pay a lot of attention to the acting and the interpretation of the character.

This is a great way to express your inner artistic self, but it is also a constraint because you have to stay within the boundaries defined by your character's personality and history. There's no such thing in modeling and while it might not enhance your acting abilities, it gives you more freedom.

Speaking strictly of the picture shooting side of the thing, a cosplay shooting is meant to make the most out of the costume, even if this means sacrificing a close-up of the face, while modeling is meant to bring the attention to the model herself.

So if a cosplayer wants to switch to modeling he/she might be dealing with a completely different beast, that requires to work on the body and the ability to play with the camera, rather than the ability to create a costume and interpret a definite character

When not cosplaying, what do you do?

I'm starting to move my first steps in the world of TV program presentation.I host a regular web program about videogames which is sponsored by Media-Markt and which you can watch at the Game Club (sorry, only Italian).

I also have some other projects running in new media and mobile communication and I still introduce cosplay events that hire me as a host/patroness/testimonial.

For any aspiring cosplayers a little shy, what words of wisdom do you have for them to get started?

I would suggest anyone thinking of starting cosplay to begin with a group cosplay.It's a great way to win shyness or any stage fear you might have.

Also, start with something simple, always going for a character that fits you physically and that you like, so you can both look and act convincingly.

And never forget to have fun.

Where can we catch more of your Cosplay at?

The main mean of staying in touch with the world of Giorgiacosplay should be my website, but it's going under a major overhaul and I don't know when the new version will be online.

But I do have a Facebook page which you can follow to get updates about me and get in contact with me: you can find it at and if you are on DeviantArt, you can find me.